Terminal Eternity
by electricchilidog
Summary: Orphaned child of an Ardat-Yakshi, Morgan discovers great biotic power inherited from his mother. As the galaxy prepares for the reaper invasion, Morgan is seen as a defender of the galaxy. The galaxy needs Morgan as a hero. But Cerberus wants him too. And when he is captured and sent to investigate a mysterious mass relay, he discovers the true purpose of the reapers...
1. Evasion

A poltergeist of biotic activity permeated the hidden reaches of the Citadel. Morinth runs though the dark alley, carrying her newborn. She ran as fast as she could away from her own mother, Samara. It had been years since Samara had this kind of chance to finally destroy the evil she helped create. Morinth was an Ardat-Yakshi, a title carried heavily in the Asari species. They are born with strange biotic abilities, dwarfing the power of any normal Asari. It is for this reason that they are located before they can do harm. And then transported to where they can do no harm.

Morinth however, was never safely transported away from society. Most Ardat-Yakshis would accept who they are and leave a possible normal life to protect their species and the rest of the galaxy. Morinth wanted to use her power to her advantage. She is the kind of Ardat-Yakshi that all species fear: A biotic whose goal is to deprive an organic of its functionality, its soul, its inner being. They deceive organics into believing that they are in love with them, allowing them to release the security in their minds. Asari are known for their ability to bond consciousness together to exchange important information. Morinth uses this skill, along with her biotic power to exploit the victim's weakness, draining them of their thoughts and feelings, leaving their body an empty shell.

These actions keep Morinth on the run constantly, only brief moments separating her and the grasp of the law. Samara has kept track of her daughters for 500 years, using her power as a Justicar to act in any way she sees fit, mostly in killing her most dangerous daughters. But it is her oldest and smartest daughter, Morinth, that has kept Samara on the hunt for 200 years.

The stasis field that Morinth held around her child kept it calm, not crying in fear. Samara did not know of Morinth's child, and Morinth wanted to keep it like that. If Samara found her grandchild, she would surely have it destroyed if it had anything to do with her Ardat-Yakshi daughter.

"You only run from that which will save you." Samara said as she flung a crate at Morinth.

"_You_ only want to destroy that which will save the Asari!" Morinth shouted back.

Morinth looked down at her child. A beautiful newborn sleeping soundly in her stasis field. Most Asari would have considered the child a mistake, an abomination to nature. Not because it was the daughter of a dangerous criminal, but the child was in fact, a human.

During one of her recent "works", Morinth convinced a human male to release himself to her. However, Morinth was not as careful as she normally was. The process she used endangered herself of becoming impregnated with the child of the other person. Morinth had to carefully drain the victim quickly because of this. But Morinth let her guard down with this particular human. Just days afterwards, she began feeling strange. After being checked at a hospital (and paying for the testing with the murdered human's credits and being registered under his identification), she found that she was pregnant. The doctor had some other, unsettling news.

The doctor said "The testing shows that you are pregnant. Congratulations."

"I am?" Morinth asked.

"Yes... however, the baby is not Asari, it's human."

"Really? But... how? I thought Asari genes were dominant. Wouldn't it be an Asari?"

"It should be. But there are always exceptions to biological rules about outcomes of interactions between two completely different, independently evolved species. So the fact that your child is human is simply due to the freak chance you and your partner had."

"I...see." Morinth's faced covered with shock.

"Well, you should expect to give birth in about 2 years."

"2 years? I thought human's only took 9 months to be born."

"Well, since the Asari have very long lives, it would take longer for a human to be conceived, due to your slower aging and metabolism."

"Oh...well...thank you doctor. I guess I'll see you in 2 years." Morinth sadly joked.

Strangely, Morinth did not want to give up her child. She started to feel like her child needed a mother. But Morinth quickly remembered who she was, a dangerous criminal constantly on the run. But she felt she felt her child deserved a chance. A chance to prove to the world that the Ardat-Yakshis are a species to be respected in the galaxy. Morinth decided to keep her child, despite the circumstances.

2 years later, Morinth gave birth to a beautiful human boy. Since he was human, Morinth decided to give him a human name. She decided on Morgan, a name that meant "lives by the sea". Morinth liked that name. Always living at the edge of an endless land of crusades. Just like his mother. Morgan was a good name for him.

But 7 months later, Morinth is once again on the run from her maniacal mother.

While Morinth was running, Morgan awoke, revealing his hazel-colored eyes staring up at his mother. Morinth realized that her child was just as in danger of being killed as herself. No one in the galaxy would accept the spawn of a dangerous species, he would only end up the same fate as herself. Morinth needs a place to escape from Samara, she realizes that not only she would lose fighting with her mother in a biotic battle, but Samara would also have her "evil" grandchild. Morinth couldn't even think of what Samara would do to him; it almost brought her to tears.

Morinth ran into a nearby active cargo holding station, the moving machines and platforms to hide in could give her and Morgan some solitude.

Nearby, in an air duct shaft, a young Drell named Kolyat was wandering through the ventilation system of the Citadel as he normally did. C-Sec labeled him and his friends as "hoodlums". They were mostly abandoned children whom lived their lives in the streets and slums of cities. C-Sec is trying to track them down due to the fact that many of these children are contracted by criminals. These criminals use these kids to commit illegal practices. This had been most of Kolyat's life; living in a life of crime. Kolyat had no one to look up to, with his father abandoning him and his mother dead.

Kolyat climbed through the ducts, as his normal means of transportation and exploration. He climbed out an open hole at the end of a duct into a large, shipping area. He took a deep breath. His lungs filled with the dust and smoke that were a part of his life.

C-Sec officers were patrolling the area actively.

"_I have to stay out of sight, I should probably stick to the higher area's and ducts_." Kolyat thought.

As Kolyat sneaked his way to the upper part of the ventilation system, he could hear large crashing noises. As he went to investigate, he saw an Asari being chased by another Asari on a catwalk above him. Kolyat could point out that Samara was a Justicar because of the uniform she was wearing. Kolyat always needed to know who was and wasn't an officer, and the means of dealing with them.

"Oh wow! A Justicar! That crook doesn't look like she knows her way around if she's messing with one of those."

Morinth kept running, trying to put as much distance as she could between herself and Samara. Morinth began running along the straightaway of the catwalk. Below her was a seemingly bottomless drop to the ground of the cargo bay.

"This time Morinth, I will not fail." Samara said with great sincerity.

Samara focused her powers, charging up a biotic warp, making sure that this would finally finish her daughter.

Kolyat watched as a bright blue ball of energy formed inside Samara's hands. The ball grew larger and larger, increasing with power. Kolyat knew that if this Justicar blasted the criminal with that much power, she would surely die instantly. Kolyat always wanted to find some way to gain an edge on the authorities, to disrupt C-Sec's plans to imprison him and his friends. And most importantly, to help his fellow brothers and sisters, whom were never given a chance to become what they wanted to become. He had to help the woman get way.

Kolyat knew he couldn't directly fight the Justicar, that would be suicide. But he could try to distract her just enough to give the fugitive precious time.

Kolyat yelled as loud as he could "Hey Justicar! Over Here!"

This made Samara pause for a moment, dimming her blast. She looked down at the Drell in a ventilation shaft mockingly waving and smiling towards her.

Samara quickly remembered what she was doing and looked towards the quickly fleeing Morinth. She began to charge her blast again, but at a weaker state.

"I'm not going to kill her if she's too far away."

Samara decided to blast even though her powers were not at full strength. The ball of energy grew again, its blue radiance aimed directly at Morinth. Kolyat could feel the energy radiating from the warp.

Samara said with anger in her voice "You...must...die!"

Samara pushed with all of her might and launched the energy ball with tremendous force and speed at Morinth. Morinth saw for a brief second the energy ball coming towards her.

Morinth felt as if all time had slowed to near stop. She thought this was it, this was the end. She could see the machines at the bottom almost not move at all. She could see the energy ball slowly heading towards her, slowly pulsing. She couldn't even feel her own heartbeat. She could see Samara in the distance, her hands burning with biotic energy, her eyes solid black, and her face filled with anger.

Morinth knew that there was no escape this time, no way out, no hope. The energy ball would strike her and nothing would save her from annihilation.

She thought "_Morgan... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that this how we must die. I'm sorry that you never got the chance you deserve. I'm sorry our condemnation was brought by my reputation."_

She looked down at Morgan, somehow sleeping through the madness.

Morinth softly spoke "I... love you Morgan. I... I..."

She tried to form the words, but couldn't say it.

"I... I..." she said with sad frustration.

"No!" She said with fury.

"I will not let her hurt me or my one and only child!"

She used all of her might to surround herself in a biotic barrier. She felt time speed up again. The machinery moving once again, the energy ball moving faster and faster, she could feel her own heartbeat again.

The blast struck the barrier, causing a massive shockwave to blast from it. This caused Morinth to lose her balance and fall over. Pipes and walls shook from the blast, even causing some nearby machinery to malfunction and break.

The blast weakened Morinth. She tried to get up, but found that her body would not move. She clutched her baby tight, trying to protect him. Samara slowly walked over to the weakened Morinth. Her body lay shaking and hurt.

Samara saw Morgan in Morinth's arms and said "What's this? A human child? I've known that you could be capable of many unspeakable things. But _this_ is truly horrible. Kidnapping a child only to devour its soul. You're even more worthless than you were before."

Morinth tried to speak, but her lips remained shut.

"Let's have a look at this human."

She picked up Morgan, held him in her arms and said "What a lovely child. Innocent and new. Beautiful life waiting for its acceptance into the world. How could you ever take away this child's life when it's barely begun?"

Samara didn't realize that was Morinth's child.

Morinth tried to move again, but her limbs would not respond. She saw the Drell looking with shock from the ventilation shaft. She could see the sorrow and pain in his eyes. He desperately wanted to help her, but there was nothing he could do.

Morinth thought "_If my mother takes Morgan away, she would discover that he was my child and surely have him locked up in some monastery or executed on sight. There has to be something I can do."_

She tried to think of ways she could make something fall on her mother, or in some way, incapacitate her enough so that she could get away.

"_The Drell, that's it! If he can distract mother enough I'll escape. But how could he distract her? But... I don't know him, I don't know that he could or even would help us."_

"Morinth, as disingenuously sadistic as this may seem, I actually enjoy watching you suffer." Samara said.

"_That Drell could fight her for me. ... Wait...no, that's not right. I could just take Morgan and run. ... That wouldn't work either, I'm too weak to escape with Morgan alive. Wait... that's it! I've got it! But I have to do this quick. And I'm disappointed in myself that this my best solution, but I no other options."_

She focused her power into powerful brain waves. It's said that Ardat-Yakshis are so insidious that they can communicate with others through biotic-powered telepathy.

The Drell began hearing voices in his head. They were calling out to him "_Young Drell,... what is your name?_

The Drell reluctantly thought back "_Um...my name is Kolyat._"

"_Kolyat, the baby she is holding in her hands is my baby. She has been hunting us down for 200 years. I'm not able to escape with my him now, for I am far too weak. I need you to take him for now until it is safe again. Please, Kolyat. I need your help. She will do horrible things to my son._"

_"Who are you, and what are you talking about?"_

_"There's no time! She will kill my son if you don't help me!"_

Kolyat thought back to his father, the assassin-for-hire. After Kolyat's mother died, his father left Kolyat to fend for himself in the streets. Kolyat never had a father who he could love. Kolyat never wanted anything bad to happen to anymore of his friends or his family. And that includes fugitives who were in the same situation as he was.

"Alright Morinth, may you find peace in the embrace of the goddess."

Samara began to kneel on top of Morinth, preparing to implode her daughter's skull.

"_Alright, Alright. I'll help you. But where will I take him? Where will I go?"_

_"You will take him to the Zakera wards, in the food storage area tomorrow mid-day. There I will meet you."_

_"O...kay. But, what about you?"_

_"I'll figure that out. Are you ready?"_

_"For what?"_

Morinth tried to stand up, she thought of Morgan and that he would live if she did something about it. She thought of that if this worked, she could survive as well.

She felt a surge of energy deep within her. She leaped off the ground and used all of her power to violently punch Samara in the face. This knocked Samara back and losing grip of Morgan. Morinth grabbed him and threw him down towards Kolyat. Kolyat realized his mission and extended his arms out to catch the child. He was ready to help his fellow criminal, even if this woman turned out not a criminal at all. Kolyat didn't care. This woman need evasion from the law and that's all Kolyat needed to help her out. His hands barely grabbed the baby. He pulled him up and into the vent where he was sitting.

Samara had this look of shock on her as she stared at the Drell. "What are you doing? You could've killed that child!"

"_Success!"_ Morinth cheerfully thought.

But before Samara could turn and attack Morinth again, she dropped down the cavernous abyss of the storage area. She softened the impact of the near fatal fall by using her biotic levitation. Although she hit the ground hard, she regained her bearings and began to run away with a slight limp into hiding. Kolyat, relieved to see her okay, started to crawl back into the vent holding the baby.

Samara couldn't stop staring at the Drell that has just caught a baby that was just thrown across a massive chasm.

She shouted "You are under arrest for obstruction of justice! Get back here with that baby!"

Kolyat did not look back, trying to crawl away from the danger the Justicar presented.

As Kolyat moved back into the safety of the darkness, he could hear a faint whisper from the baby's mother "_Good job, Kolyat."_

_"Are you okay? You took a pretty hard fall down there."_ Kolyat responded.

_"I'll be fine, just a slight limp. Are you okay?"_

_"Yes, me and the baby are fine."_

_"Good. Take care of him until we meet again tomorrow."_

"_Don't worry, I'll take good care of him."_

"_Thank you so much Kolyat. You don't know what this means to me."_

_"Glad to help, Miss..."_

_"Just call me Morinth. Also, the baby you're holding, his name is Morgan."_


	2. Eyes of Power

Metallic clang rang out through the vents in the Citadel. Kolyat carried Morgan with soft hands, trying not to wake him. Morgan's brown hair shown beautifully in whatever light they could find in the ducts. The fans and machines almost made music with their noises. Kolyat liked to think of the underbelly of cities like this, a beautiful array of mechanical music and rhythm, soothing and comforting to the loneliest of souls.

"Don't worry, Morgan, you'll be safe with me. But what I don't get is why _both _ of those Asari wanted you. Morinth said that she was your mother, but doesn't sound right. She's an Asari, and you're human." Kolyat said to Morgan, not expecting a response.

Morgan looked with wonder and confusion at his carrier. His eyes showing interest in his new surroundings.

Kolyat walked through a small duct opening leading into a large open space, almost like a courtyard. This was the camp where he and his caretaker stayed. It was an old abandoned Eclipse mercenary hideout, territory that the Eclipse decided not to guard anymore for not holding any strategic value within the Citadel. The Alliance had planned to occupy this area for more settlement, but they thought that the Eclipse had occupied the area, keeping on guard to defend it. The area ended up being a dead spot for activity in general, allowing for the unseen residents of the Citadel to move in.

Various people found their home in this decrepit place. Makeshift tents constructed out of Eclipse flags and old, discarded clothing. Most were sitting in their tents, talking with others or simply trying to rest their broken bodies and take their minds off of the constant hunger or the threat of C-Sec or Eclipse breaking in one day and forcing evacuation.

Kolyat lived in a tent of his own with his caretaker. The tent sat on a side of the room, allowing for more tarp to be used for more space. His caretaker was a veteran of the underground. He grew up in the old, forgotten places of the Citadel much like where they are living now. His knowledge of the area unmatched. He had connections to the outside world which gave him jobs that helped keep him and Kolyat alive.

Kolyat's caretaker was sitting in the tent, scanning a pistol with his omni-tool. His personal information was never stored in the omni-tool, it's communicative abilities that connected it to the watchful eyes of the Citadel had been disabled, making it perfect for anyone in the underground system.

" Hey, Mouse." Kolyat said.

"Hello, Kolyat." Mouse said, still trained on his pistol.

"Mouse, there's somethi-"

"Hang on Kolyat, I'm almost done with this pistol, I took it off a dead C-Sec officer, I have to clear the tracking data before we can use it."

Mouse sat there, intensely pressing buttons on his omni-tool and waving it over the pistol.

"Just one more second, and... done!"

He turned off his omni-tool and held up the pistol.

"Good news Kolyat, we got a new pistol!"

Mouse had to do a double-take when he glanced at Kolyat, seeing the child he held in his arms.

"Kolyat... what are you doing with that baby?" Mouse questioned.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Kolyat responded.

"Look Kolyat, I appreciate your effort to recruit more people into our work, but we'd have to look after this kid for a long time until he... or she could work for us."

"_His_ name is Morgan, and I'm not recruiting. I just want to look after this kid for a little while."

"If you're not recruiting then what _are_ you doing with him? Unless... you're..."

Kolyat watched as Mouse's face of confusion turned to a face of gleaming happiness.

"You're holding him for ransom! Good job Kolyat! It's your first ever hostage negotiation! How much are you asking for?"

"He's not for ransom, I'm doing it as a favor."

Mouse's face turned back into confusion.

"What!? Is this something one of the others dared you to do?"

"No! This is for someone who needed my help."

"Needed your help? What are you talking about?"

"I'll tell you what happened."

Kolyat began to tell Mouse about his encounter.

"I was going through the vents near the shipping machines on the way back to camp when I heard a lot of loud crashing. When I went to look, I saw some Asari being chased by a Justicar. She was about to get killed. She asked me to take this kid so that he wouldn't be killed by the Justicar. She threw me him and she got away while the Justicar was looking at me. Then me and the Asari got away from the Justicar."

Kolyat refrained from revealing Morinth's identity. He didn't want to cause Morinth any more trouble by having more people know about her.

Mouse was shocked by this story. Justicars don't come around the area unless there's a real problem that only they can solve. He stared at Kolyat, who was still holding Morgan. Mouse noticed that he was still sleeping in Kolyat's arms.

"So you're harboring a kid that one of the most expert cops in the galaxy is looking for?"

"Well, yes. But the Asari said that Morgan is her kid."

"That's a lie. That baby's human. How can his mother be an Asari?"

"I don't know. But she needed help to get away from the Justicar; I had to help her."

"You should've just done nothing and gotten away from them."

"I can't just let someone get killed like she...and this kid almost did."

Mouse realized that Kolyat wasn't going to give up Morgan anytime soon. He decided to give this a shot since Kolyat was acting very emotional about this.

"So...exactly when does his 'mother' want him back?" Mouse said cautiously, using air quotes.

"The Asari said that she wanted him back by tomorrow in Zakera Wards."

"Well...I suppose we can keep the kid for tonight. Wouldn't be that much of a problem." Mouse said with grumbled acceptance.

"Thanks, Mouse." Kolyat said, relieved.

"Whatever, Kolyat." Mouse said as he looked at his pistol.

Mouse remembered the Council meeting that was going to be held at 12:00.

"Kolyat, if want to make it to the council meeting, you'd better hurry."

"Wait, what time is it?" Kolyat anxiously asked.

Mouse said as he checked his omni-tool "looks to be about 11:30".

"Oh no! I might miss seeing the Spectre that's going to be there." Kolyat said.

Kolyat was about to bolt off to the council meeting when he thought _"Hm. It might not be safe to leave Morgan here without my supervision. After all, I'm going to give him back to Morinth tomorrow, I have to watch out for him."_

"Is it okay if I take Morgan around to the Council meeting?"

"Sure, but be careful. Just stay quiet and stay out of sight. The Justicar's probably told C-Sec that a Drell has kidnapped a baby."

"Do you want to come and watch the meeting?"

"No thanks, I have to fix this pistol a bit more."

Kolyat, dissapointed that Mouse couldn't come said "Alright, Mouse, see ya later."

Kolyat ran off and crawled into a vent that would eventually lead to the Citadel Arms Control, where Council meetings are held.

Mouse said to himself while studying his new pistol "Spectres, pff. They're just to glorify the council's races. They're never gonna let a species like us humans get a Spectre."

Kolyat wormed his way through the ducts towards the Citadel Arms Control. Morgan fell asleep again, feeling comfort in his carrier's arms. Kolyat wondered the real meaning behind the confrontation before. He had absolutely no reason to trust either of them, yet he _chose_ to lend a helping hand to Morinth.

But that was in the past, Kolyat had Morgan with him, A Justicar after him, and his trust placed in a criminal. None of that he could change now. He would just have to follow Morinth's direction and give Morgan back tomorrow and try and avoid any problems with C-Sec or the Justicar.

Kolyat could hear voices above him.

"This one knows he is a Spectre, but he should not be lawfully enabled to announce racist slander about the humans as truth." One Hanar said.

"Well I think the humans have invaded enough of the Citadel and the rest of the galaxy. They are simply a problem to the Alliance." A Volus refuted.

Kolyat listened as he crawled to an area positioned in the side of the Council deliberation chamber itself. It was a large, acoustically and architecturally brilliant place. The council stand stood in front of a massive window looking into the Serpent Nebula. It's light giving an illumination in the chamber made up of the stars and gases' elemental driven glow.

He found a cold, but comfortable spot behind a grate that gave a good view of the Council's standing area and the podium.

"This council meeting will now begin." An Asari counselor spoke in a loud voice as she, a Turian counselor and a Salarian counselor walked onto the stand.

A Turian then began to walk up to the podium that stood in the middle of the chamber. His armor was built of black and grey metals, put together in a sleek, warrior-like fashion. The armor also looked well-used, a sign of an experienced Spectre. His mandibles stretched a long length behind his head, showing that he was an older Turian. And his eyes were a piercing blue, as if there were mass relays in his eyes.

The Asari counselor continued "The Council recognizes Saren Arterius."

Saren spoke in a deep voice "Thank you, counselor"

"You may begin your testimony." The Asari counselor said.

"I have requested to speak with you on a matter of pressing concern to the galaxy. I speak of the rapid, and unprecedented expansion of humanity into the Alliance. I believe that they are expanding far too rapidly for the Citadel and Alliance space to handle. It has occurred to me that these humans are uncivil and not very willing to follow alliance standards. They truly believe that they are masters of the galaxy, pretending like they have some sort of seniority. They simply do not fully understand the core beliefs of the Alliance. I submit to you that there must set forth some sort of emigration policy to restrict humans from colonizing worlds and living at the Citadel, much like the actions done with the Krogan. Or, we will be overrun by a species that will disrupt and ultimately destroy the civilized nature of the Alliance itself."

"For the record, Saren, we have always tried to maintain an open relationship with all species, including the Humans and the Krogan." The Turian counselor said.

"Colonization is a matter of the species' choice, not to do with a matter of 'supposed threat to the Alliance'." The Salarian counselor spoke.

"Humanity needs to learn their place in the galaxy!" Saren shouted as he slammed his fist on the podium.

"Humanity hasn't been much of a problem in the Citadel so far. People like Admiral Anderson have given us a decent perspective on them. I'll agree with you that humanity has expanded rapidly. But they haven't expanded at as an alarming of a rate as you suggest. Your argument is simply baseless conjecture." The Asari counselor said.

"I would have to agree with that as well." The Turian counselor said

"Yes, I agree to that too. And, I must say for Spectre whom has seen so much, experienced things with so many species, you seen to have a rather narrow view of the humans. And as for comparing them to the Krogan, not many Krogan are let into the citadel because most of them refuse to relinquish their weapons." The Salarian counselor spoke.

Saren was disappointed at being shot down like that.

"It's obvious my point is not getting through to all of you." Saren scoffed.

"Perhaps it isn't." The Asari counselor said, humoring Saren.

"Is there anything else you would like to say, Saren?"

Saren said nothing a few seconds, faced the Asari counselor and said "Since it has become clear that my cause is going unsupported, I have nothing else to say."

"Very well, Saren." The Asari counselor said.

"Meeting adjourned!"

Kolyat began to move at a leisurely pace back to camp. Morgan awoke from his sleep, making noises. Kolyat looked down at Morgan and tried to comfort him the best that he could. His years of training in stealth gave him quiet movement, not to disturb Morgan. Kolyat's quick hands which he used for pick-pocketing and subduing enemies he used to rock Morgan back to sleep.

"_Well, that was a short meeting." _Kolyat thought with disappointment, expecting a grand and long debate by the leaders of the galaxy.

Kolyat got back to camp, and Mouse was sleeping in their tent

He nudged Mouse and whispered "Hey, Mouse. Wake up."

Mouse grumbled and rolled over to face Kolyat, his eyes opening and his arms stretching.

"Hi, Kolyat. How was the Council Meeting?" Mouse said.

"Kinda weird. The Spectre wasn't talking about anything cool, just talked about how much he hates humans."

"He sounds like a real jerk."

"Yeah. But he looked really cool in his armor."

"Well, you can afford good armor when you're funded by the Council."

"I guess you're right."

Kolyat sat down across from Mouse and laid down Morgan on top of his tarp bed.

"Oh! That's right! I forgot to tell you! Could you go on a credit run? We're running low on credits."

"Aw, Come on, it's so late." Kolyat whined.

"Just a quick one. Go to the Dark Star and pick-pocket some boozehounds."

"*sigh* Alright, I'll go." Kolyat reluctantly agreed.

"Also, Mouse, could you take care of Morgan for now?"

"Fine. I'll watch the kid until you get back."

Kolyat kneeled down to and joked at Morgan "don't get yourself in trouble like you did before."

Kolyat walked away and crawled through a duct towards the Dark Star bar.

The Citadel started to turn into its nighttime phase. The starlight in the camp started to dim. People who were out doing their normal business made their way back to the at least temporary safety of the camp.

Mouse started eating some food out of a crate he stole from an Asari cruiser. The food looked blue, sloppy and disgusting, but apparently edible. It tasted as bad as it looked. Mouse tried to eat it, it was some of their only food after all.

_"Worst. Steal. Ever."_ Mouse thought.

Morgan began to wake up, looking around for Kolyat.

Mouse said "Kolyat'll be back in a bit, don't worry.

Morgan saw that Mouse was eating and crawled over to him.

Mouse said "Are you hungry?" Holding up a spoonful of the blue sludge.

He held the spoon down for Morgan. He put his entire mouth over the spoon and ate all the blue ooze off of it.

"Well, you're certainly a hungry kid."

Mouse kept feeding Morgan until the little jar from he was feeding him ran empty."

Mouse said "Sorry, kid. I guess that's it for tonight. Don't want to crack open another jar. We have limited food supplies."

Morgan crawled back onto his tarp bed and flopped his head down in sleepiness.

As Kolyat was crawling back to camp from the Dark Star bar with a handful of stolen credit chits, he could hear a familiar sound. He moved closer to where the sound was emanating from. He paused in front of a grate looking into an apartment room to discover that the sound was coming from his criminal friend, Morinth.

Kolyat saw what looked like a Turian man relaxed on a couch while Morinth sat on a chair opposite of the couch.

The Turian man said "So, want some Hallex?" as he pulled out a thin, green bottle.

Morinth said with a devilish grin on her face "Not now. Wouldn't you like your mind to be clear at a time like this?"

"Definitely." The Turian said, putting the green bottle back in his pocket while keeping eye contact with Morinth.

Morinth slowly walked over to the Turian and sat herself next to him on the couch.

Kolyat saw Morinth's eyes turn to a black so deep that it was as if no light could escape them. Light blue flames started to form all over her body, making her appearance beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

Morinth said slowly "You will do anything for me, you will kill for me."

The Turian, being controlled by Morinth's power replied "I will do anything for you, I will kill for you."

"Your mind is mine, I am in control of you."

"My mind is yours, You are in control of me."

Morinth made an evil smile as the Turian sat helpless in her trance. Morinth brought their faces together to where their lips touched. Morinth's biotic flames now surrounded the Turian as well.

The Turian began to realize what was happening to him and tried to break free, but it was no use. A loud shockwave of energy blasted out from the both of them. The Turian started to scream in pain as his nervous system being drained into Morinth.

Kolyat watched in horror as the Turian cried out for help, but to no avail. His flails and screams became less and less intense as this continued. Soon, the Turian stopped screaming, stopped flailing, and his body became limp.

Morinth parted her lips from his, as the biotic flames went away and her eyes returning to their normal blue.

The Turian's body dropped onto the floor, his eyes bloodshot. Kolyat realized that Morinth had killed him.

Morinth stood back up from the couch, overwhelmed by pleasure. She calmly walked back to her bed with a swagger in her step and a proud, evil smile on her face. She lay back in bed, falling asleep almost immediately; it took large amounts of energy to drain someone of their brain. She still had that smile still on her face as she slept.

Kolyat could not believe what he had seen. His trusted confidant, whose child he was bearing, had just killed someone in the time of few seconds. Kolyat didn't want to say a word, as to not get caught, not even thinking, remembering how Morinth talked to him before through telepathy.

Kolyat, scared and confused, slowly and quietly crawled back to camp, in utter disbelief of what Morinth had done.

Back at camp, Morgan began to wake up. He saw Mouse's new pistol laying next to the crate of food. He crawled over to it. Morgan put his hand around it and picked it up.

Mouse, noticing Morgan with the pistol said "Heh, trying to act like me or Kolyat?"

Morgan somehow got his finer on the trigger and curiously pulled it, shooting the pistol. The laser shot up as it hit Mouse's roof of the tent, putting a smoldering hole in it. This startled Mouse and made him jump a bit. Some of the other fugitives came to see what had happened.

Mouse grabbed the pistol out of Morgan's hand, walked outside and assured the frightened people that it was an accidental discharge, nothing more.

Mouse sat back in his tent and noticed that Morgan was laughing, not scared by the loud shot.

Mouse said "I haven't even known you for a day and you're already causing trouble.

Mouse thought about the words he said.

_"Hmm. If that kid can shoot a gun before he even knows how to talk, imagine what he could do with a little bit of training."_

Mouse's thought was interrupted by the sound of an electric generator turning on and lights flickering to a somewhat bright glow that helped illuminate the now dark place. Light at night was necessary. People in the camp often used the cover of darkness to rob and steal from the others. Sometimes in rare cases, people would even be murdered. The electric generator ran on random element zero deposits they found throughout the day in the Citadel. Sometimes no one brought back any element zero and the generator couldn't run. Those nights people would clutch their weapons at night, fearing for their lives. But the generator gave people some mental solitude, if there was no physical protection given .

Mouse could hear some rumbling coming from a vent. Kolyat emerged with a handful of credit chits.

"Hey, Mouse." Kolyat said. Proud of his latest find, but internally disturbed by what he had seen.

"Nice job Kolyat. That'll be enough credits for a while."

Kolyat sat down on his tarp and noticed the hole in the roof.

"What's with the hole in the roof?"

Mouse said with a grin "Morgan's just a baby, but he's more interesting than you might think."

"Morgan shot that?"

"Yes he certainly did."

"If only you knew how to do that when you were attacked." Kolyat joked at Morgan.

Kolyat heard a loud grumble from his stomach. Kolyat looked up with embarrassment at Mouse. Both of them tried to keep themselves from losing it but they ended up hysterically laughing together.

Mouse held out a spare jar of the blue goo from before for Kolyat, even though supplies were limited. He decided to eat it, not liking a single moment of it.

"Morgan loves this stuff." Mouse said.

"I don't see how anyone could ever like this." Kolyat said.

"I'm just glad we can feed the kid before we give him back; don't want to give that Asari a _dead_ baby." Mouse said with a laugh.

Kolyat smiled and continued to eat the vile slop.

After eating, Kolyat tucked Morgan in a sleeping tarp he prepared for him. Morgan fell soundly asleep.

Mouse went to sleep as well, but Kolyat couldn't stop thinking about what had happened.

_"How can I be sure that Morinth isn't just playing some sort of trick on me? The way she killed that man was brutal. She is way more dangerous than I realized. She might've been the one I should've tried to take down with the Justicar. Oh... that's right. The Justicar has probably warned C-Sec about me. I'll have to be very careful about being stealthy tomorrow. One wrong move and I not only endanger myself, I endanger everyone here. This camp needs to be kept secret. If I get captured with Morgan, they'll expose all of our connections and do a thorough sweep of the area, revealing this place... Everyone would be killed or imprisoned. And how do I even know that the Justicar won't just capture me and take Morgan for whatever her plan might really be?"_

Kolyat pondered his decisions. He didn't know if he truly could trust Morinth with Morgan, and he didn't know if the Justicar wouldn't stab him in the back once she had Morgan.

"_Who really is this Morgan kid?"_

This intense thinking made Kolyat more tired. This wasn't the time to theorize about the true nature of the parties involved. It was time to rest his body and mind for tomorrow's events.

Kolyat thought as he drifted off to sleep _"I never thought I'd play roulette with a kid's life and all of our safety as the stakes."_


End file.
